Why the First 100 Days Concept Is Bogus

Jeff Greenfield: “The Trump White House is treating April 29 as if an asteroid were headed straight to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Why? Because it marks the 100th day of Donald Trump’s presidency. And, according to one White House official, ‘One hundred days is the marker, and we’ve got essentially 2½ weeks to turn everything around.'”

“Well, maybe you can’t blame the White House for panicking; what they really are responding to is the massive media exercise in premature evaluation that has become as inevitable as it is asinine. Take two steps back from the ritual, and it’s clear that making any solid judgment about a new president based on the first 14 weeks is like … well, you choose the metaphor; predicting a basketball game’s outcome three minutes in? Calling a presidential election 18 months out?”